We all know that the definition of the modern office space is changing but everyone seems to be defining it differently.  In this article from the New York Times, the modern office is described as a place to facilitate collisions with people that you wouldn’t normally ‘run in to’ at the office.  Innovation company, ?What If! has renovated a three storey building in New York that features unassigned seating for employees, a variety of spaces to support both collaborative and heads down work and cubbies to secure personal belongings while you’re working throughout the building.

Though the average person is territorial and relishes the idea of a space ‘belonging’ to them, I like the idea of being able to choose a work area with the appropriate energy for the type of work you need to do or mood you are in.  The director of ?What If! describes his day and his use of a few different work stations for the different tasks he needed to complete that day.  I think the most important thing they’ve done with their new space is thought about what work they’re doing and how they want to do it and have designed the space to support these goals.  There is no one size fits all office design solution and even the most strict budget or real estate goals needs to produce an office that is going to make sense for the company.  ?What If! was looking for a space that would support impromptu meetings and brain storming sessions where you would need to quickly jot something down on the wall or duck into a meeting booth for a quick chat and this space has been realized in their new office.